


A Tall Drink of Chardonnay

by muse_in_absentia



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 19:09:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3392930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muse_in_absentia/pseuds/muse_in_absentia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A one night stand a couple of years ago has Sirius comparing every date to a man he can’t find.  That is, until James throws himself an engagement party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tall Drink of Chardonnay

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd. Sorry. Please feel free to yell at me for any and all errors.

Sirius kicked his filthy boots up onto James’ oak coffee table, sinking back into the pale blue sofa that Lily had picked out.

With a sigh, James flicked his wand and cleaned off both the boots and the table. 

“Whipped,” Sirius snorted.

“Oi! I am not whipped, you’re just a slob.”

“James, mate,” Sirius drawled, “you have _lace_ curtains.” In fact, not only did the flat have lace curtains but it had pristine cream carpets, tasteful art on the walls and a proper coat rack.

“Yes, well, Lily picked them out.” Hazel eyes glazed over behind thick glasses at the mere thought of Lily Evans-soon-to-be-Potter.

“Along with the sofa, the tables, the china and the bedspread. I repeat, whipped.”

The front door closed with a creak and James sat up a little straighter.

“Don’t go pointing that out to him, Sirius,” Lily chimed from the hallway where she was removing her cloak. “I spent a long time getting him this way and I don’t want it spoiled by him catching on.”

Letting out a bark of laughter at the pout on James’ face Sirius smiled at Lily. “Hello, love,” he replied as she settled herself on James’ lap, his arm automatically wrapping around her slim waist. Sirius winced inwardly at the way James’ red robes clashed terribly with both her sedate navy ones and her hair. “Did you have a nice day at work?”

“Don’t go flirting with my fiancé, Black,” James warned, frowning.

“Honestly, James,” Lily sighed, “You would think that hearing about his latest boyfriends would be a fair indication that he doesn’t mean it, even if we don’t ever get to meet them. Not to mention watching him pick that bloke up at the pub when we all went on holiday together a couple years ago.”

“Technically, you are the only one who actually saw him pick up that bloke.” James shook his head, nuzzling into her neck.

Sirius sighed at the unabashed displays of affection between the two, and carefully looked out the large window, deciding that the crows flying by were suddenly fascinating.

“Speaking of blokes, however, maybe you can help, Lils.” James continued, kissing her cheek and looking imploringly at her.

“Is there something I should know, James Potter?” she asked, arching an eyebrow and drawing Sirius’ attention back to his soppy friends.

“What? No! That’s not what I meant!”

Both Lily and Sirius laughed as James turned bright red.

“Sirius is refusing to come to the engagement party,” James muttered, face still flushed, head hanging.

When Lily’s eyebrows shot up Sirius flapped a hand at her. “I didn’t refuse,” he huffed, “just said I didn’t want to be the only single person in a room full of couples being happy.” He looked away, picking at his fingernails

“Oh, Sirius,” Lily nearly whispered. “What happened to Kyle?”

Crossing his legs, which were still on the table and therefore caused Lily to frown at him and kick them with her own tiny trainers, he shrugged in a failed attempt to look nonchalant. “He just wasn’t… I don’t know. It just didn’t feel right.”

“Translation,” James cut in, “He wasn’t the bloke he picked up at the pub on holiday. Sirius, mate, it was a weekend fling two years ago. Hell, you never even learned the bloke’s name. You can’t keep comparing every date you have to him.”

_The door to the cheap room at the small bed and breakfast creaked closed with a soft snick. A warm hand settled on the small of his back, and he turned to stare into the honey colored eyes that had caught his attention at the bar earlier while his friends were all busy with their respective states of coupledom._

_“Won’t your friends wonder where you’ve gone?” The young man’s voice was raspy and made things tighten low in Sirius’ stomach._

_“Lily saw, and she won’t let James mind. Pete and Claudia wouldn’t notice anything other than each other, even if I were to dance naked on the bar with the Queen.”_

_The chuckle that brushed past his ear in a puff of warm breath as they leaned closer together made Sirius’ head spin, or maybe that was the fourth whiskey he’d had. “Shall I break out my crown, then? I save it for special occasions, and I would love to see you dance naked.”_

_Sirius let out a bark of laughter, then clapped a startled hand over his mouth._

_“You’re drunk,” the young man whispered, nipping lightly at the soft spot behind Sirius’ jaw._

_A whimper slipped out between Sirius’ lips and he drew a shaky breath, noting absently that the man in his arms smelled like fresh earth, oak and the wine he had clearly been drinking. “You smell delicious,” he groaned, flicking his tongue across the other man’s slightly chapped lips._

_“Definitely drunk.” Sirius didn’t have a chance to respond as he was pulled roughly into a fierce kiss, tongues tangling almost instantly._

_He tasted whiskey, which was odd because the sandy haired man definitely smelled of wine and therefor ought to taste of wine as well. “Wine doesn’t taste like whiskey.” If Sirius realized he voiced the thought aloud he didn’t show it as they maneuvered clumsily towards the rustic wooden bed, tripping on uneven floorboards and bumping into the sagging dresser along the way._

_When the overly firm mattress hit the back of Sirius’ knees he sat down hard, hitting the floor with a thud that he was sure would leave bruises, and possibly a splinter or two._

_“Are you all right?” the other man asked, looking bemusedly at him._

_“I would have been fine if the bed hadn’t moved out from behind me,” Sirius pouted. “It shouldn’t have been hard to land on one of the three of them.”_

_The last thing he remembered was a dry exclamation of “Oh dear,” before he vomited all over his companion’s shoes and promptly passed out._

Sirius sighed, staring at the bright sunflowers that Lily had put in a midnight blue floor vase by the door. He twirled his wand, shooting multicolored sparks out of the end before casually turning James’ hair lilac. Lily bit her lip and didn’t say anything, just snuggled down a little in James’ oblivious arms.

“I don’t try to, James,” he said, finally. “I just see the two of you, or Pete and Claudia, and I know that eventually I’m going to want that, too.”

“I know I’m going to regret asking this,” James muttered, “but, what was so special about a guy, who you couldn’t be arsed to learn the name of I might add, that no one else can compare. And please, no details about what a great shag he was, or how amazing his cock was. I really don’t want to know.” Running his hands through his hair, James frowned when he caught sight of a few stray hairs that clung to his fingers.

“I want to know,” Lily giggled, flicking her want to casually right James’ hair, and then again to forcefully knock Sirius’ heavy boots off her coffee table.

James glared, but Sirius gave a slightly strained laugh, catching himself heavily before he fell off the couch. “Sorry, love,” he reached out and patted the red-head’s knee. “We didn’t shag, so you’ll have to do without those details.”

James frowned, little lines forming under the bridge of his heavy black glasses. “Wait, you’re telling us that you’re this fussed over a bloke you didn’t shag?”

“I don’t know, James, there was just something different about him.”

_Sirius groaned, and swatted in the direction of the sun streaming through the lacey yellow curtains. In his attempt to hit the off switch on the sun his hand connected with something solid. Solid and warm._

_Blinking blearily he noticed that he was tucked neatly into the uncomfortable bed, and that the man he had picked up at the pub the night before was curled tightly on his side next to him. Head spinning he tried to piece together how they had ended up that way, but only got as far as his graceless tumble and then… swearing softly his eyes fixed on the spot on the floor where his sick should have been. The floor was spotless and there was no lingering smell of vomit. Turning back to the sleeping man (who, as his libido noticed, was wearing only his dark green tee-shirt and pale blue boxers) he felt a pang of guilt. Here he picked up a bloke for a quick shag and instead the guy cleaned up after his drunk arse._

_Easing carefully out of the bed he pulled a small vial of hangover potion, which Lily had supplied them all with before they went out for the evening, out of his bag and downed it quickly, pulling a face at the oily texture and overly floral taste of poppies. His headache subsiding a bit Sirius climbed back into the bed and snuggled up to the man’s back, tucking an arm around the thin chest and feeling his heartbeat. He buried his nose in the fine sandy hairs at the back of the other man’s neck, noticing that he still smelled delicious in the overly bright light of morning sobriety._

_“Mm, as much as the thought of a quick morning shag sounds pleasant enough, I really would prefer you at least brushed your teeth first.”_

_Sirius’s face warmed when he realized that not only was the young man awake, but that brushing his teeth after having passed out in his own vomit the night before had taken a back seat to his desire to cuddle a bloke he didn’t know, even after he had forcefully sobered himself up. “Sorry,” he mumbled, pulling away._

_His companion rolled over, blinking fuzzily at him. “It’s not as if I mind getting to sleep next to gorgeous men, even if I would prefer they weren’t sick on my shoes first.”_

_Sirius bit down the completely irrational urge to ask whether or not this happened often. He’d made enough of a prat of himself already, he didn’t need to compound the issue by appearing jealous of a man he just met. It didn’t matter that his chest tightened in unpleasant ways at the mere thought of this beautiful man being touched by anyone else, other men getting to know that he smelled so delicious, getting to taste him. It was a ridiculous notion, being jealous of a stranger, and his pride refused to let him show it._

_He nearly reached for his wand to clean the shoes before his sleep (and lust) addled brain caught up with him._ Right. Muggle. No magic. _Fortunately, he wasn’t particularly coordinated first thing in the morning, so he hadn’t actually drawn his wand, but rather groped the pillow it was hidden beneath a couple of times._

_“Yeah, sorry about that, too,” he whispered, turning to climb out of the bed and give the poor bloke some space, despite wanting nothing more than to pull the covers over both their heads and pretend the world outside didn’t exist for at least a few more hours._ What is wrong with me? _He wondered as he felt his face getting even redder, the fear that he was going to spontaneously combust from the heat of it not totally unfounded._

_Much to his surprise he heard a soft breath of laughter behind him, and felt a warm hand settle on his shoulder. “It wasn’t that big a deal, and you seemed like you needed some help.” The hand squeezed gently. “Besides, it was totally worth it to get to see you all flustered this morning. Now, go brush your teeth so we can snog.”_

_And suddenly Sirius was laughing. It started out as a startled snort which grew into a chuckle and finally bloomed into a full throated laugh, tears running down his face._

_“You’re totally mad,” his companion muttered, chuckling along with him._

_“Probably,” he conceded, trying to catch his breath. “Runs in my family, you know.”_

_“Why must all the truly good looking ones be complete nutters?”_

_Fingers carded through slightly too long black hair, and Sirius felt the air stop in his lungs. He trailed his fingers up the cords of the other man’s neck, coming to rest gently cupping his cheek. “As much as you spending the night with a strange drunk man implies otherwise, I truly hope you have someone in your life to tell you how incredible you are on a regular basis. It would be a terrible waste if you weren’t reminded of that daily.”_

_The laughter drained from honey colored eyes, so very close to his own, before he heard a whispered “Sod it,” and a pair of lips claimed his, terrible morning breath and all._

“We just talked,” he added, quietly, not quite meeting James’ eyes.

“And you still never managed to get the bloke’s name,” James reiterated.

“It didn’t seem relevant at the time. Asking seemed,” Sirius paused, grasping for the words to explain. “It seemed like asking you for your name,” he finished, shrugging. “It just felt like I should have known it already.”

“And that didn’t seem a bit, I don’t know, foolish?” James snorted.

“Honestly, James,” Lily said, kissing him gently on the tip of his nose, “when has love ever _not_ been foolish?”

“Fine,” James sighed, knowing when he had been beat. “I won’t force you to come to your _best mate’s_ engagement party if it’s really going to bother you.”

“I just don’t fancy spending the evening feeling like a third wheel,” Sirius mumbled. “Or, considering the number of happy couples you’ve invited to this thing, more like a seventeenth wheel.”

“At least help James pick out the wine?” Lily cajoled, flashing her most winsome smile. “If we let him do it himself he’ll come home with some chianti that tastes more like the cork. You know he has no taste for anything nicer than a cheap firewhiskey.” 

“Actually,” James said, ignoring the dig and looking thoughtful, “I think you’ll like this place. The bloke who owns it sells wine to muggles as a front, and has a greenhouse selling potions ingredients out the back.” Snorting, he shook his head. “And if the bloke you’re always checking out at the coffee shop on the way to work in the mornings is any indication, he’s just your taste, too.”

Sirius flushed. “Didn’t think you’d noticed that.”

“Sirius, mate, you drool.”

Sirius showed him two fingers, but didn’t bother to contradict him.

*****

Sirius wanted to apparate, but Lily pointed out that the potions used to rapidly age wines were frequently unstable and definitely not suited to shrinking charms and they wouldn’t be able to apparate home with as much wine as she had instructed James to buy without shrinking the cases. Which was how he found himself seated in Lily’s rundown junker trying not to squeak every time James proved he hadn’t really learned how to drive the muggle contraption.

“You will never again give me a hard time about my motorcycle, Potter. This thing is far more of a deathtrap than any flying bike could ever be,” he grunted, closing his eyes as they rounded a turn too quickly. He felt the car lean around the curve in a way that things with four wheels should never experience.

Cranking down the window Sirius gasped at the fresh air, smelling the damp earth and sweet grapes of the vineyard before he could see it. By the time the car came to a stuttering stop, stalling again because James forgot to put the clutch in, for the third time, Sirius’ hair was a tangled, windswept mess from trying to stick his head out the window. 

He flung himself out of the car the instant it wasn’t moving, leaning heavily against the rusted passenger door while he tried to regain his equilibrium.

“I’ll just go see if Remus can’t fill this list of potions ingredients Lily asked for while you continue to whimper like a kicked puppy. Come join us when you feel up to talking wine.”

Sirius flicked a covert stinging hex at his mate, but he missed when the door swung closed deflecting it.

The smell coming from the rows and rows of grapevines was doing nothing to dissuade the churning in his stomach. It was an overripe sweetness that bought grapes just didn’t have but with none of the tannins or nuances of a good wine. Just pure, unadulterated saccharine grape with the green smell that sunbaked leaves emitted and a bit of fresh dug earth.

Once his head stopped spinning Sirius walked slowly into the small winery, appreciating the tasteful oak walls and raw beams which mixed with the subdued green carpeting to make the wine seem like it had never really left the vine.

He could hear James talking potions towards the back, but he ignored him in favor of perusing the bottles. Just as he was about to pick up a particularly understated and elegant bottle of cabernet he heard a slightly raspy voice.

“I appreciate the invitation, James, but I promised a very thick skulled old friend of mine that he could drag me off to some gathering and introduce me to this bloke he works with. He seems to think we’d hit it off and I don’t have the heart to tell him he’s always wrong.”

James chuckled and Sirius walked around a tall shelf to find him. Suddenly he was very glad he hadn’t picked up any wines yet because they would have shattered when they slipped from his suddenly boneless fingers.

“Ah, and there’s the pillock. Remus, my best mate Sirius. Sirius, Remus, the proprietor of this lovely establishment without which Lily would never be able to brew us all enough hangover potion to survive what is destined to be the sort of engagement party to go down in history. Speaking of which, I’m going to go put these ingredients in the car before you two start talking wine. That’s just going to put me to sleep.”

“Please, please tell me that the elf berries and the purple poppy seeds are in separate bags,” Sirius muttered, eyeing the bags warily.

“They are both secured in charmed silk pouches, there is no risk of contamination.” Sandy hair flopped into honey colored eyes and Sirius had to shake his head, slightly mesmerized.

The slight scratchy quality to this man’s ( _Remus’_ , Sirius thought bitterly) voice made Sirius catch his breath in his throat and he had to swallow thickly a couple of times before trusting himself to speak. “You haven’t experienced the joy that is James’ driving. It’s deadly enough to break through any protective charms.”

Remus snorted, then bit his lip. Sirius wanted to bite it for him.

James flipped him two fingers, muttering under his breath as he took two small but full bags out to the backseat of the car.

“So, I guess I’m supposed to talk to you about the wine.” Remus’ voice hitched slightly and Sirius noted that he wouldn’t meet his eyes.

Flapping a hand at him Sirius snorted indelicately. “I don’t know what they’re serving, James won’t know what they’re serving, just give me two cases each of pinot grigio, cabernet and chardonnay, that way my arse is covered.”

Remus blinked a couple of times, face completely blank. “You want two cases _each_?”

Sirius chuckled at the incredulous tone. “It’s going on James’ tab, so absolutely. Can’t be running out of alcohol at the ‘sort of engagement party to go down in history’ now can we?”

“Of course not.” 

The dry response made Sirius’ skin prickle and he was struck with the sudden urge to nibble on Remus’ ear. In fact, he was unconsciously leaning in when Remus spun away to reach for a bottle of chardonnay. Sirius got a good whiff of the man before he stepped out of reach and he had to shake his head to clear the fog he seemed to be under.

“That’s why you smelled like wine!” Sirius let the exclamation slip out before he could stop himself.

Suddenly stifling air seemed to close in around them, and Sirius was having a hard time drawing breath, the feeling that he was trying to breathe underwater overwhelming. Remus had frozen with a hand halfway to one of the nearby rough-hewn shelves and Sirius, taking a shuddering breath, dared to step close behind him, placing a hand gently between his shoulder blades. He could feel the slight tremble in the other man and fought off the desperate desire to wrap him up in his arms until he was still again.

“I figured you had forgotten about me,” Remus whispered, not moving away from the touch, but not encouraging it, either. “You should have forgotten about me,” he added so quietly that Sirius nearly didn’t hear him.

Ignoring the rapid staccato of his heartbeat (and all concept of propriety) Sirius took one final step closer and wrapped his arms around this man, this near stranger, that he had spent the last two years trying, and failing, to replace. “I couldn’t forget you,” he whispered, leaning in so that his lips just barely brushed Remus’ ear as he spoke. “I thought about you all the time.”

“It was one night,” Remus argued.

Sirius hummed an agreement, burying his nose in Remus’ hair. “But it was a wonderful night. Hell, I’ve less fun with people I actually got to shag.” He snorted slightly. “Honestly, though, I’m surprised it was even one night considering I threw up on your shoes.” He frowned. “Knowing about this place does explain why you were so willing to clean up after me, however. Vanishing the mess is probably a lot easier than the muggle way.”

Remus gave a strained chuckle, but he did relax a fraction and Sirius took advantage by placing a small kiss into the soft sandy fringe at the nape of his neck that had so enamored him the last time. Remus shivered and relaxed back just an inch further. “I should get your wine before James comes back.”

Despite his words, Remus didn’t move and Sirius allowed himself to nuzzle into the crook of his neck. “Merlin, you smell so good.”

“Don’t. Please.” The words came out in a breathless whisper that was in complete antitheses to what was said.

Huffing, Sirius dropped his arms and stepped back from temptation, grey eyes going nearly silver as he crossed his arms. “Why? I know there isn’t anyone else since I heard you were being set up by a friend. Is a blind date really that important to you? I know it was only one night, and two years ago at that, but it was an amazing night. Isn’t that worth something?”

“It’s not that,” Remus said, biting his lip.

“Then what?” Remus didn’t say anything and finally Sirius threw up his hands in frustration. “Fine, if that’s what it is.” He pulled out his wand and with a quick flick a small piece of parchment fluttered out of the air and tucked itself into the pocket of Remus’ pale blue and yellow plaid shirt. “But just in case your blind date doesn’t work out that’s my address. Owl me. I’ve decided that I was wrong.”

“Oh?” Remus was fingering the parchment in his pocket, but he didn’t pull it out and crumple it up. Sirius took that for a good sign, or at least not a bad one.

“It wouldn’t be a shame at all if you didn’t have anyone to tell you how incredible you are every day,” Sirius said quietly. The other man looked hurt, his eyes going wide and downcast at the same time, some of the brightness melting away. Sirius ignored this in favor of continuing speaking. “I want that to be my job, you see, and I don’t want someone else to have it already.”

Remus turned an alluring shade of pink and Sirius was about to say sod it and kiss him when the door banged open and James stomped back in.

“How can it possibly take so long to pick out some wine?”

Muttering under his breath about friends with terrible timing, Sirius turned around to find James frowning at them. “We were waiting for you, mate. Did you think this shite was free?”

James had the decency to look embarrassed and he wandered over to the counter to pay. Sirius took advantage of all the focus being on buying wine to slip outside and hunker down in the passenger’s seat of the car to wait for James and the wine so he could go home and find that bottle of firewhiskey he had forgotten about from New Years. He intended to get sloshed enough he could forget entirely about this day and sandy haired young men that smelled like wine and tasted like home.

*****

The party was in full swing when Sirius showed up nearly an hour late. He had tried to stay home, had wanted to stay home, but it didn’t take long before guilt informed him in no uncertain terms that he couldn’t miss his best mate’s only engagement party. A hasty shower and a pair of faded denims paired with a charcoal grey button-down later and he found himself stalling a couple of flats away, each step felt like there was a mountain troll strapped to his leg for how heavy his feet felt.

Music filled the hall as he walked slowly through the building to the Potter-Evans flat and Sirius had a moment of pity for their neighbors, and, preemptively, his own head. He pushed the door open cautiously, not entirely sure of how many bodies James tried to cram into the small space.

He was met with the site of a slightly glassy-eyed Peter clutching at a nearly empty glass of pinot grigio like it was his only tether over the abyss. Sirius tried to get a mental gage of the party from Peter’s state of inebriation, but decided that if he was still fully clothed it couldn’t be that bad.

“Sirius, mate, you made it! Prewett brought a _werewolf_ with him!”

Sirius blinked a couple of times at his friend, then, deciding to ignore the obvious, asked, “Which Prewett?”

Peter furrowed his brow and took a gulp of wine, picking at a loose thread on the cuff of his blue shirt. “The redheaded one.”

“Umm, you know they’re twins, right? They’re both redheaded,” Sirius asked slowly.

“Oh!” Peter grinned suddenly. “That explains why there was two of him.”

“Pete, mate, how much of that wine have you had?”

Peter looked at his glass and frowned. “I don’t know. This whole engagement party thing has Claudia sighing wistfully every time we pass a jeweler.”

Chuckling, Sirius clapped him on the shoulder lightly. “In that case, you might want a refill.”

Peter nodded gravely and went in search of a bottle.

Sirius was trying to decide if the music or the din of voices was louder (and wondering why James bothered with the music at all). Finally he gave up, deciding to write off leaving this party without a headache and took off his heavy leather jacket. Tossing it on the overly full coatrack he wandered into the flat, the smell of pizza assaulting his nose. “Honestly, Evans, what was the point of sending me to buy wine, and ruining my entire week in the process, if you’re just having pizza?” he grumbled to himself, probably a little louder than he should have. It was hard to tell over the rumble of a Potter inspired party. Vaguely he wondered when he got old.

“Oi, that’s my future wife you’re insulting.” James, who seemed to have materialized with no warning from the middle of the crowd, flung an arm around his shoulders and led him none too gently into the thickest throng of people, tripping slightly when he ducked to avoid a sagging string of fairy lights and managed to catch his foot on a pair of shoes that someone had kicked off in the middle of the floor. “Although, don’t tell her, but I agree. Terrible taste that. Should have stuck to firewhiskey.”

“You’re right, I do have terrible taste. Should have tossed you to the curb years ago.”

James jumped and whirled around. “Lily! Love of my life, brightest star in my sky, smartest – “

“All right, Potter,” she giggled, going up on her toes to kiss him and flicking her wand to move the rogue shoes against the cream baseboards and right the fairy lights all with one neat swish. The pale yellow ribbon in her hair matched her sundress perfectly and combined with the red waves tumbling down her back to make her look a bit like she had burst into flames. 

Sirius briefly pondered the fittingness of Evans burning to ashes at her engagement party and being reborn as Mrs. Potter in a few months. Then he wondered if he could hex a pair of wings on her without getting cursed into next year.

“And Sirius, I’m glad you came. This tosser was in a right state that you weren’t going to be here,” Lily added, oblivious to how close she was to a set of fire-feathers.

Spluttering, James turned slightly red. “Was not,” he mumbled, burying his nose in Lily’s hair.

Lily just smiled and Sirius felt his stomach sour, immediately ending any brief amusement he had been having inside his own head. He was quite sure there was none to be had outside of it. It was only great love for these two people standing in front of him that kept him from bolting. The entire party was full of people drinking wine. Wine bought from Remus, who wanted nothing to do with him and who he couldn’t forget no matter how many men he went through.

“You should go chat with Prewett, Sirius,” Lily continued. “I believe you know him from work. He brought someone very interesting with him.”

“He’s a werewolf,” Claudia giggled, slinking over to join them, her arm around Peter. Peter was smiling adoringly at her and the way her champagne colored ponytail bobbed with every step of her dainty high-heels and swish of her pale green, flowered skirt. He turned slightly green, however, when she started openly gazing at the diamond and emerald ring on Lily’s finger, her blues eyes calculating.

“I’m not sure why that’s so impressive to everyone,” Sirius grumbled, trying not to growl as he was bumped into from behind. “It’s not as if it’s a full moon tonight, so it’s not like being a werewolf should make any difference to this party.”

“I suppose that’s nice to hear,” a slightly scratchy voice said dryly from behind him.

Sirius felt like he was turning around in slow motion. Somewhere in his periphery he noticed identical redheads grinning down at him from an absurdly tall height, but he ignored them in favor of staring slightly slack jawed at Remus who was grinning sheepishly back.

“Black, mate,” one of the Prewett’s, he still couldn’t tell them apart, interrupted. “This is –“

“Wait, Gid, _Sirius_ is the bloke you wanted me to meet?” Remus turned his head to try and look behind himself and up at the redhead, making him look a bit like an owl.

“You know each other?” Sirius heard two Prewetts, Peter and possibly Claudia, he couldn’t be sure over sudden rush of blood to his head which drowned out the sounds of the party and left his ears buzzing, not unlike the thrum of ambient magic in the air or muggle electricity. Sirius blinked a couple of times, focusing in on soft brown eyes.

Remus took a step forward, then stopped, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “You really don’t care?” he asked quietly. Sirius barely heard him. It was as if his ears had been hit with a _muffliato_. “That I’m a werewolf?” Remus added.

Finally, shaking off the stupor enough to find his tongue Sirius smiled his most charming smile, although it felt a little wobbly around the edges. “Was I supposed to?”

“You’re totally mad.” Remus smiled hesitantly.

“Probably,” he whispered back. “Runs in my family, you know.” 

“Why must all the truly good looking ones be complete nutters?” 

Sirius caged Remus’ face between his hands gingerly, heart threatening to crack through his chest when he realized Remus remembered too, and leaned in until there was barely breathing room between them. “Does this mean I’m allowed to remember you, now?”

“If… if you want to.” Remus’ eyes were suspiciously bright, and Sirius was just leaning in when a giggle out of Lily jolted his ears back to the party around them.

He threw a glare over his shoulder and hissed, “You knew!” She just smiled and tucked her head onto James’ shoulder.

“Oh, just snog already so that we can get back to this fabulous party that’s supposed to be in my honor, not yours you git!” James glowered at them while trying not to smile.

Eyeing the crowd of people all watching them Sirius leaned in and pecked Remus on the cheek. At the surprised look on the other man’s face he whispered, “Later, when we don’t have an audience,” as he pulled away, taking Remus’ hand and pulling him close. When Remus didn’t resist he slid an arm around his waist and turned him in the direction of the small kitchenette. “Now, let’s see if I can’t snag some pizza and a glass of your most fabulous wine my gorgeous werewolf.”

“Oh, please don’t,” Remus grimaced.

Sirius wasn’t sure if he was referring to the pizza or the overly soppy, and possibly inappropriate, endearment so he nuzzled behind the other man’s ear and whispered, “Don’t what?”

Remus turned faintly pink and shook his head.

When he realized he was getting no response, Sirius pressed his lips gently to the shell of Remus’ ear, letting his lips graze the soft skin over and over as he spoke. “I’ll get it out of you eventually, you know, so you might as well tell me now.” He bit down gently on the delicate whorls and just managed to hold in a soft moan when Remus shivered in his arms.

“It’s just,” Remus paused, ducking his head as his flush became significantly more pronounced.

“Hmm?”

“If I’m finally going to get to snog you, I would prefer if you didn’t taste like wine. I’ve grown to rather despise the stuff,” Remus finished in a rush.

Sirius froze for a moment, then let out a bark of laughter, tightening his hold on the only man who had ever made him feel like this. “You are incredible.”

“So now you think you get to be the one to tell me that?”

“Every day, if you’ll let me.”

Remus furrowed his brow, mocking thinking hard, before smiling slowly and burying his face in the crook of Sirius’ neck. “I think I could be persuaded to give that a go.”


End file.
